dijon mustard

This is one of those recipes that I could make every week, and Jim wouldn’t mind at all. Like most guys,

whether it’s chicken drumsticks, thighs or breasts, as long as they are coated with a sticky, sweet-salty and spicy glaze, Jim is so content with this type of dish. Add potatoes of some sort, and he is in his glory.

I happen to agree with him as regards a good chicken dish. I mean, chicken is a staple at our place. And while we always seem to stick to the same old, same old, having recipes like this one, make chicken a little bit more fun. Is it the sticky fingers that happen when you grab a drumstick in your hands? I’m not sure, but I am confident that it doesn’t hurt.

What’s even better about a recipe like this, is how quickly it comes together. The marinade can be made up in the morning before you leave for work, and the chicken is soaking up all that goodness while you are filing, or typing, or balancing columns of numbers, or conquering the craziness of city traffic.

The marinade is the perfect balance of sweet, spicy, salty and tangy. Dijon mustard, maple syrup, tamari and cracked red peppercorns get blended into white wine vinegar and olive oil. I use DRØM Red Peppercorns here. Freshly cracked, they exclude a slight sweet heat to the recipe. And then after the chicken pieces have finished roasting in the oven, another fresh crack of the red peppercorns makes for a visually appealing garnish.

I will say, use either aluminum foil or parchment paper to cover your roasting dish. If not, you will have a sticky MESS to contend with afterwards. The kind that will make you want to just throw out the baking pan. Please, do yourself a favour, as well as your scrubbing hand, and protect that pan. It’s all the caramel stickiness from the heated maple syrup and tamari that turn into a thick glaze- wonderful on the chicken, not so much on the baking dish.

This dish works perfectly with steamed broccoli, broccolini, rapini, bok choy etc. And of course rice. But Jim likes it equally with roasted potatoes and a side of asparagus. Or wouldn’t these be amazing with potato salad on the side!

And here’s a trick that I learned from Emilie Raffa, of ‘The Clever Carrot’ website: make the marinade, add the meat to it, and place all of it into a freezer bag. Freeze for future use. Then on that day when you realize you don’t have anything in the house, or company is due on the weekend, just pull out the bag and let it all thaw. As it thaws, the marinade will seep into every nook and cranny of all those chicken pieces.

You could use a whole cut up chicken, or even boneless chicken breasts here, you will just adjust your cooking time. This is an easy recipe to cut in half if you are just feeding two or three people.

Love Jen.

5 from 1 vote

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Dijon, Maple and Red Peppercorn Marinated Drummies

This tangy, sweet, spicy, umami marinade turns into a wonderful glaze as the chicken pieces roast away in the oven. This will make everyone happy!

Course
Main Course

Prep Time1hour10minutes

Cook Time40minutes

Total Time1hour50minutes

Servings4

Ingredients

1/2cupdijon mustard

1/2cupmaple syrup

4tbspwhite wine vinegar

2tbspolive oil

2tbsptamari or coconut aminos

2garlic clovesminced

1 1/2tspDRØM red peppercornsfreshly cracked

3 1/2 to 4lbchicken drumsticksor you can purchase thighs, breast pieces- go for bone in, skin on. If you aren't sure in lbs or grams how much to purchase, if average size, assume 2-3 drumsticks per person, or 1-2 large thighs or breasts per person.

2tbspfresh parsley or rosemarychopped

Instructions

Marinade:

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and whisk well.

Pat dry all the chicken pieces with a paper towel.

Take a baking dish that will accommodate the chicken in one layer and cover the entire dish with aluminum foil. Don't skimp! The marinade will really get baking on, so you want to minimize clean up as best you can.

Place the chicken in the dish.

Cover with the marinade. Turn to coat. These can sit in the marinade, covered, in the fridge from one hour up to the day while you are at work etc. Alternatively, you can place all of the ingredients into a large freezer bag, coat well, seal and freeze. Then just pull out in the morning before you are ready to cook them.

Preheat the oven to 425F. Remove the chicken from the fridge to come to room temperature.

Place the baking dish on the centre rack and roast for 40 to 45 minutes, until cooked through. Check with an instant read thermometer- you want to hit 170F.

Move a rack to the top third of the oven. Place the dish on this rack and turn on the broiler.

Broil for 1-2 minutes, until the skin is crisped and a lovely ebony colour in spots. Don't let it burn though!!

Transfer the pieces to a cutting board to rest. Take the marinade and place in pitcher or gravy boat. Unless you feel it is too runny. In this case, put the marinade into a small pot, and over medium high heat, cook down till thickened slightly.

To serve:

Place the chicken on a serving platter and drizzle the sauce over it. Grind another good cracking of the red pepper over everything. Sprinkle with parsley or rosemary as a garnish.

Recipe Notes

Obviously, if it is just two of you, you can cut the marinade recipe in half. I will do this and prepare 6 or so drumsticks if it is just Jim and myself. I am generous with the amount of chicken in the recipe- better to make too much than too little!

Or else make up the whole marinade, get 12 drumsticks or so, and place half the chicken and half the marinade into a freezer bag and freeze. There, dinner is ready for another day, another week.

We are constantly being told to eat healthier. Lose the sugar. Drop the carbs. Avoid processed and packaged foods. Eat more vegetables. Have meatless days. Throw gluten to the curb. Eat raw. Eat fermented. A barrage of ‘suggestions’ that from some sources sound so militant that they make you feel like a complete loser and hater of the planet if you don’t abide by their wishes….

All Hail Caesar. Salad, that is. The most misunderstood salad, if ever there was one. Back in the day it was a spectacle to have prepared table side at all the best restaurants.

The chef (or waiter) would bring out all the ingredients: the egg yolk, the anchovy (or Worcestershire sauce) , the olive oil, the dijon, the lemon juice, garlic. He would lightly scramble these at the bottom of the salad bowl till they emulsified into the perfect dressing. Performance art that you could eat.

Then the greens would be tossed over the dressing. The croutons would be added. All would get gently tossed to get that dressing onto all the leaves. Some parmesan would be shaved over the bowl, and voila, he would then serve you from the bowl with salad tongs. A lesson in simplicity where the sum is greater than the total of the parts. Simple ingredients, but when they are the best of the best, a glorious salad. Eventually bacon started showing up as one more addition. In my opinion the only good addition worth including. More on this later.

Then the 80’s happened. This salad became the height of ubiquitousness. And it was presented with all sorts of additions: hard boiled eggs, corn, tomatoes, grilled chicken (okay, I get this one) chickpeas, the list goes on. And the croutons. Don’t even get me started on those dreaded croutons. They all seemed to be those hard as concrete, chiseled cubes from a box. Dry as cardboard, with no flavour. This became the acceptable norm for the so-called Caesar Salad.

About this time I got the best Caesar Salad dressing ever from a room-mate. I’m not exagerating. To this day, I stick with this and it brings the house down. It is the perfect blend of egg, oil, garlic, lemon and dijon. There is a bit of parmesan cheese in it as well, for flavour, and a touch of creaminess. And for those of you who are squeamish and don’t want to add a smidgen of anchovy paste, I totally agree with the Worcestershire sauce as a replacement.

So, dressing, check. Fresh torn Romaine (Cos) leaves (and if they are small, leave them whole, as how the original salad was presented- the perfect little cups to hold the dressing), check. A hunk of Parmesan to shave over the finished salad, check. All that we need are the bacon and croutons. And for me they are linked.

To me, bacon is a necessary component of a good Caesar Salad. It adds a textural and flavour contrast: that touch of smokey saltiness to play off the creamy, tangy, garlicky dressing. Plus, it’s a bit of protein (fair enough, questionable protein, but a treat of yummy protein nonetheless!) Sautéing up several rashers of double smoked bacon is such a wondrous thing to do in the kitchen. The aroma is like nothing else. And after the finished bacon has been removed from the pan, comes the piece de resistance, my croutons. Well, they’re not MINE per say. I’m sure others do the very same thing. I must have learned it from somewhere. Don’t ask me where. Because I’ve been doing it for decades. And it is what makes this salad so unique.

Slice off a few thick pieces of sourdough bread. Slice these into 3/4 inch wide lengths. Take each length and tear into cubes roughly 3/4 inch large. The tearing here is important. The one knife slice is acceptable. But if you slice crossways, you will get perfect edges all around, and this is a no-no in my books. It is the rough, jaggedy edges that will make these taste so good. After you have made enough croutons for your salad (Approximately 1/3 cup per person) lay them out on a plate or baking sheet to dry out a touch. Do not use old bread for these. They should not be rock hard. I use day old bread with perfect results.

After you have removed the bacon from the pan and set it on paper towels to drain, check the pan to see how much bacon fat is left. If there is more that 1-2 tablespoons, use a spoon or paper towel to blot up the excess. Into the remaining hot warm fat (it should cover the bottom of the pan without being an oil spill) sprinkle some dried thyme and oregano, and swirl around. Into this oil you are going to throw all your croutons. Pan fry till browned and crunchy, but still soft in the centre. Each piece will pick up some of the dried herbs, and the flavour of the bacon. Remove to a paper towel. These croutons are amazing. Crunchy exterior, but no fear of cracking a tooth when biting into it. I don’t know how many times, when I was waiting on tables, I would find a miserable little pile of boxed, rock hard croutons huddling together, when I came to remove the salad plates from a table. This will never happen with these croutons! They taste like bacon, accept the dressing graciously, and add the perfect textural compliment to a simple and yet sublime salad.

On hot, summer days, this is often a go-to dinner for us. Sure, if there is leftover grilled chicken, I will serve it on the side. But if you make enough salad, and don’t skimp on the bacon, it is a meal unto itself. Add a glass of wine and call it a night!

You’re welcome!

Love Jen

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The Ultimate Caesar Salad, Really

A creamy, tangy, garlicky dressing over a classic salad, with the most brilliant croutons ever!

Course
Salad

Cuisine
American

Prep Time20minutes

Servings4

Ingredients

2heads of Romaine heartsor one large head of Romaine lettuce

3/4cupEV olive oil

1/4cupwhite wine vinegar

4-5garlic clovessliced

1/4tspfresh lemon juice

1large egg

1tspdijon mustard

1/8tspWorcestershire Sauce or anchovy pasteboth are optional, but do make a difference!

4-6rashersdouble smoked baconor any good quality bacon

2-4thick slices of fresh sourdough bread

1tspdried thyme

1tspdried oregano

hunk of parmesan cheesefor shaving over the finished salad

Instructions

Wash, dry and tear the larger leaves of Romaine, add to large bowl.

Leave the smaller leaves intact if desired, and add to the bowl.

Take a paper towel and dampen just a touch with cold water. Drape over the bowl and place in the fridge.

Take the slices of sourdough and cut into 3/4" lengths. Take each of these and tear off into 3/4" or so bite sized pieces. Be sure not to use a knife- you want the natural, jagged edges that come with hand tearing. Lay all out on a plate or tray to dry ever so slightly while you work on the dressing and bacon.

Take all the dressing ingredients (EV olive oil through the Worcestershire Sauce) and place them into a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. You should not need salt since the parmesan and Worcestershire sauce add enough already) Set aside.

Place the bacon rashers in a sauté pan and sauté at medium heat until cooked through, but not dry crisp. Remove to a paper towel to drain.

In the pan, remove all but 1-2 tbsp of the bacon fat. There should be enough to coat the entire bottom of the pan without being too deep. Sprinkle the thyme and oregano evenly over the oil. If there isn't enough ft, supplement with olive oil.

Raising the heat to medium-high, add the cut up bread to cover the pan in one layer.

Leave to fry for about 40 seconds. Start checking and tossing, so that all sides get equally crisped up. There should be browning, but not burning.

Remove when all are crisped up. This should not take longer than 3-4 minutes total. Remove to paper towel and then a bowl.

Go back to the bacon and tear into bite sized pieces.

ASSEMBLE

Take the greens from the fridge. Add 2/3 of the the croutons and 2/3 of the bacon. Add 2-3 tbsp of dressing per person=1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of the dressing. (this will be determined by how wet or sloppy you like your dressing!) Start off with the 1/2 cup and see what happens after tossing gently but thoroughly.

Place into a serving bowl. Top with the remaining croutons and bacon.

Using a vegetable peeler, shave parmesan cheese over the top of the salad (don't be too skimpy!)

Recipe Notes

The recipe for this dressing makes about 1.5 cups. It will last a couple of weeks in the fridge.